Overivew
Solstice enrolls community solar customers through the Solar Massachusetts Renewable Target (SMART) Program in this state. The SMART program does not have a separate program for low-income (LI) electricity customers. SMART instead uses various adders, including the Low-Income Community Shared Solar (LICSS) to incentivize LI-serving projects. It is worth noting that there is a small 5% carveout in each capacity block for “Low Income Community Shared” and “Low-Income Property” projects.
Below are the main electrical utilities in Massachusetts. For this program, Solstice will only work with Eversource, National Grid and Unitil.
Geoqualification
The below map shows the qualified Environmental Justice (EJ) 2020 census block groups for Massachusetts. Note, the below represent block groups that are tagged with the presence of an EJ metric, and does not delineate between EJ classifications (Income, Minority, Language, combination of the three). The EJ population map is viewable in further detail on this website.
Further information on MA EJ blocks:
Polygons in the 2020 Environmental Justice (EJ) Populations layer are 2020 Census block groups across the state that meet one or more of the criteria listed below.
- the annual median household income is not more than 65 percent of the statewide annual median household income; (ii) minorities comprise 40 percent or more of the population; (iii) 25 percent or more of households lack English language proficiency; or (iv) minorities comprise 25 percent or more of the population and the annual median household income of the municipality in which the neighborhood is located does not exceed 150 percent of the statewide annual median household income.